Referee stabs footballer before player is rushed to hospital with punctured lung

A REFEREE has stabbed a player after a massive brawl broke out between players at a grassroots match in Argentina.

Phone footage shot by an astonished spectator showed how players from both teams rampaged around the ref on the pitch.

The incident took place in the town of Scholler in the province of Misiones, in Argentina last week.

The video shows players shoving the ref before he brandished the blade and stabbed a player in the chest.

Shocked spectators gasped after the player staggered and fell before other team members carried him off the pitch.

Meanwhile, the ref, wearing a black strip and a white cap, jogged away as the footage ended.

Local media later named the stabbed 21-year-old player only as Kevin A. who was rushed to hospital with a punctured lung.

Pictures then emerged of the player recuperating in a hospital bed.

The rogue ref was named as 62-year-old Remigio Armoa.

The player's uncle, who has not been named, told local media: "Kevin is miraculously alive.

"For the family, it is a very delicate moment because he is the Messi of the family.

"He is a boy well gifted for football, thank God he had the opportunity to be in a club like Chacarita."

The police later arrested Armoa and seized the knife used to attack the player.

The investigation is currently still ongoing.